Orange Blossom Trail Gets Face Lift

Renovations At Shopping Center Are Designed To Change The Area's Image

September 10, 1992|By Luz Villarreal Of The Sentinel Staff

Motorists driving past the Orange Blossom Center shopping strip this fall may have to look twice to recognize it.

Construction crews have been working at the shopping mall on the corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Holden Avenue for the past few months, renovating the center and the parking lot and adding landscaping.

The project is about two months behind schedule, but the first phase should be complete before the holidays, said leasing agent and property manager John A. Priede.

The $2.5 million face lift is part of a joint project with the Orange Blossom Trail Development Board, an agency working on revitalizing Orlando's notorious strip of night spots and topless bars.

Renovating the shopping center will help lure more businesses to Orange Blossom Trail, said Randall Grief, the group's executive director.

''This center was identified as the key economic location for revitalizing this section of the Trail and to get more people shopping back in this area,'' Grief said. ''We feel it will spur more development.''

Plans for the center include adding a Food Lion grocery store as an anchor to the strip mall by Oct. 15 and an Orange County Sheriff's Office substation by the end of this month. Walgreen's will also be relocating next to the Firestone Tire and Service Center by mid-December.

The developer, Orange Blossom Shopping Center Ltd., is also planning to add two more anchor stores to the 200,000-square-foot complex. By next year, the center should have 25 tenants, Priede said.

As part of the deal, the Orange Blossom Trail Development Board is making road and landscaping improvements and installing a bus shelter at the front of the center.

''This will be one of the premier shopping centers in south Orlando,'' Priede said. ''This will definitely be a major catalyst to help get businesses moving again in south Orlando.''